Bozoical Inhalations .....

Bozo, Mumbai's only dog-with-his-own-blog  will have you know that he is well versed with IT/software/design acronyms, and WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get  to those  acronymically disabled bipeds).

However, it does NOT apply to folks like him.

This may be a Magiceye photo capture, during his daily walks,  as he  goes around, smelling the roads, corners, vendor places, and areas used by disobedient two wheelers and elderly four wheelers.  

But clearly, what you see, is NOT what you get.  Bozo's nose is highly evolved.  You may smell vadapao, petrol, roses, and wet mud. 

Bozo smells something else.

When the BIG ONE in the sky
distributed noses,
I think
I got the best one.

Because He knew that
I would use it well.

Unlike some folks
I know,
I do not use it
to poke it
into other people's lives,
and unlike them,
I actually think
about what I smell .

Do I smell fear ?
Do I smell danger ?
I can also
smell insects and rodents
that one cannot see,
even tumors before they happen,
and spasms in others,
before they kick in;
I can detect evil,
and things that explode,
and also things
that hide,
quietly eating away your walls
be they
of your house
or yourself...


But I can also smell
a dear friend,
once a little girl,
coming home after a break,
tired legs
climbing up,
happy legs
rushing home,
the fish seller
still on the staircase,
the smell of
an old lady
from a book
on something
she wrote about me,
and the smell
of she and her friend
in the elevator,
as they come to meet me....

It isn't
just you biped guys
that have this IT....

Thanks to our
amazing nostril computers,
incidentally,
2000 times smarter
than the biped noses,
we too
are in the SIT age;
Sniffing Information Technology......

Bozoical Life Seasons...

You don't need to know the properties of glass to reflect. Bozo , Mumbai's only dog-with-his-own-blog knows that , as a Holy Book said, "for everything in life there is a season".

There is a season for racing in gardens, there is a season for sprucing up on your way to meeting Luci (of Thiruvananthapuram) for lunch,  there is a season for growling and cribbing, there is a season for hankering after fancy accessories and there is a season for thinking and ruminating about life....

Unlike us bipeds, who are experts at mismatching seasons to activities, Bozo thinks there is something to what the book says.

We guys
may not make
a song and a dance about it,
but we too have
summer,
winter
and monsoon fashions,
and preferred colors and stuff.

Unlike
some unimaginative bipeds
we guys really don't prefer golden blondes
à la Lassie....

It's more about being
a smart chocolate brown
or a butterscotch cream
with streaks of color
or even a shining military black....

As for me,
I'm beyond mundane stuff
like colors
and am more into accessories
like my smart
personalized London collar,
my casual blue one,
and my
impressive harness.

There has always been
a big long
shiny thing
in the house,
in which
I see and admire myself
when I wear this stuff.

But,
It's when
the sun sets,
dinner is over,
windows closed against mosquitoes,
and the lamp shines,
that
I restlessly move,
till I see a hint of myself
emerge from behind a curtain
in the glass,
and you know what,
that's
when I see
deep into my mind,
and thank God
for my amazing life ! 

Bozoical Corporate Advice

Bozo, Mumbai's only dog-with-his-own-blog  is now a veteran of these once-a-week photo sessions, and continues to hold his own, competing with birds, trees, butterflies, oceans, and all kinds of yummy snacks, that keep getting clicked by his mentor and life chronicler, Magiceye.

Not only is he a photographer's delight in the way he poses, but deep inside that head, there is a lot of churning of thoughts going on, thanks to what he sees around him.

You just need to look deep into the brown eyes....... 

Fresh from a
monsoon sprinkling,
shaking myself dry,
I watch
the camera turn to me,
close enough
to touch my nose,
after having its fill
of trees, birds,clouds
and a variety of breakfasts.....

I wish
someone sends my
closeup to Unilever.

No,
I do not hanker
for a film role,
nor am I competing
with hot shot models.

Its just
that I
with my
amazing olfactory gifts,
smell
an opportunity.

My dark wet
black nose,
with shades of
old age pink,
set in a
brilliant bone structure,
is my natural
sunscreen,
gifted by Nature.

Look deep into my eyes,
and
admire my
new fashion
dark brown vertical eyeliner
descending
from the
sides of the nose.
And be jealous
of my shapely ears
with shades of pink and brown.

When will Unilever learn
that
they must
not simply promote
Fair and Lovely,
but the Dark,
the black,
the brown,
and
the pink,
because they all
make me what I am ?

Take it from me,
that's the future of advertising;
Bozo, Luci, Pablo, Sam .
They all  rock !

Err....
Angelina Jolie,
Priyanka Chopra,
John Abraham,
Virat Kohli,
eat your hearts out....

The Bozoical "Eyes" have it !

Yes. Like our esteemed Madame Speaker says in Parliament, "The Eyes have it !"...

Bozo, Mumbai's only dog-with-his-own-blog  at his contemplative best, is back once again. Summer has set in,  and  he doesn't really feel like getting out into the hot sweaty Mumbai air. It is so much nicer to wander in the house, and lie down occasionally on the cool floor, generally keeping an eye on things, as everyone is busy with their own work.

Of course, his mentor and chronicler , Magiceye,  takes such excellent pictures with his magic camera,  that  Bozo is a very willing model for closeups and stuff. 

Particularly, ever since he found out that blond hair and blue eyes, in no longer the gold standard; it is now blond hair and honey brown shining eyes......(eat your heart out, Carter Road Lassie...)--- 

For a hero,
born a natural light blond
with light silver streaks
and
who ran with the pack
in his childhood,
I've left
my wild running days
behind,
ever since the
doc sat me down,
and gave me a piece of his mind.

We dogs
have life stages too,
and I am
currently enjoying
Schwaanprasthashram****,
in my posh old age.

I keep a keen watch on things,
do my exercises,
and stretches,
and curb my impulse to
run after a ball in the garden
as I sedately
walk with Deepak
wearing my new harness.

So many memories,
so much fun as a child,
and I store them all
in my heart
which actually overflows.

Playing with the children,
lying quietly
near the desk
as they studied,
shuffling restlessly
at the kitchen door
amidst the smell of
lip smacking fish,
and standing in style
in the car
driving by,
sneezing at the cop at the corner.

Learning to hear
and understand a "No",
thrilled to wag my tail
in anticipation of a "yes",
it has been a
great time
to be a dog.....

How great ?

Just look into my eyes.

You will see everything
reflected there...

You know why ?

Because ,
unlike you,
with an interfering brain,
my eyes
have a direct connection
to my heart.....


****Schwaanprasthashram :  Waanaprasthashram is the old-age-retired-detached stage for humans.  Schwaan happens to be Sanskrit for dog.  :-)

Birds, Herds, and Good sense.

The mudflats at Sewri on Mumbai's eastern seaboard,  are frequented by flamingoes and many other birds , thanks to  the marshy wet landscape, where birds lay eggs for hatching, knowing that predators like wild dogs and wolves will keep away from unmangeable wet slippery sand.  Closer to the waterline, birds often feed off fish and insects, blithely ignoring the shaky sands.

My blogger friend, Magiceye, posted this as part of his Saturday Photohunt -"Gather" series.  

There is so much one can read into photos of nature.  And there is so much to learn.

And sometimes, I think we evolved too much, too fast.

(photograph by Deepak Amembal Magiceye)

Coastal land
wet with sea and marsh,
some hatch their eggs there,
some come to feed off
helpless fish,
some birds follow the herds,
while
some, fly around,
seeking
different feeding places.

Much like
prominent national places,
bright with power & lucre,
where some
stay and
immediately install
their young ones,
while some come
to feed off
attractive tradeoffs...
Like some folks
simply follow the big herd,
and some,
on the periphery,
take a chance,
at joining someone else
somewhere else.

The only difference is,
the birds in Sewri
never
hurt anyone,
and never
tell lies.

Strength of a PitBullian Mind.....

When I saw this photo of a Pitbull terrier posted by FB friend Sanjeev Hirudayaraj, I was speechless. I went back to it again and again.

The expression was amazing, and I kept wondering what must be going through the mind of the Pitbull.It wasn't a case of all brawn.  There was, it appeared, plenty of brain.

See this page for some more evocative pictures of man's best friend.

(photo by Sanjeev Hirudayaraj)

Fresh from a skirmish
shaking off the dust
and panting
in an adrenaline flood,
I am amazed
and angry,
at what I see...

They call me
a PitBull,
mean ,dangerous,
a dog trained to fight
and attack.

I know some people like that
who train abroad
and attack
the mother country.

Some live within,
and attack
and hurt,
with their dangerous behaviour.

Teachers being caned
by police
in Punjab,

Underage drunk drivers
driving wild
over
homeless sleeping folks,
and then
being gifted bail...

MP's
with a single point
power agenda
wasting money in crores
by holding up Parliament...

Cities
being denied infrastructure
while ten times that
is spent on
issuing newspaper ads
praising
the great departed
in politics...

Those at the top
setting bad behaviour examples
to those looking up

Crores being paid
to someone
to dance with missing clothes
when
there is no money
for hospitals
and police housing.

Yes, I'm trained to fight,
small kids
cry when they see me,
and
as they say,
I am nothing much to look at.

But I have a mind,
I look around
and I am disgusted.

Tell me,
with all this going on ,
is there any reason
I should smile.....

A Bozoical Diwali.....:-(

Bozo, the only dog in Mumbai to have his own blog,  is upset. And in the highest traditions of the Mahatma,  he is following Maun Vrat( a vow of silence), and fasting to protest about something.  

Magiceye clicked this very evocative photo during our festival of Divali, which was recently celebrated. Unfortunately, in Mumbai, it is celebrated with massive and loud fireworks, at decibel levels that are hurtful to humans as well as dogs and cats, and possibly other animals too.

Dogs can hear many more frequencies that we can. And such loud stuff hurts, and stresses out dogs and can get them restless, frightened , quick tempered and unable to eat.  And they look for places to hide and chill out, till all the madness gets over. 

A peep into Bozo's mind ......

(photo by Deepak Amembal Magiceye)

I lie
on the cool floor
on tenterhooks and wonder.

First
the thunder evenings
at the monsoon end
that
make me shiver.

And then
this man made
Sound and Light show,
with more sound than light
at Diwali,
as I
squeeze
under the bed
to damp the noise
and the sudden glare.

And to think,
that in this
modern day and age
you can buy silence in Courts,
and get away with it
but
no amount of money
can buy silence
in the city.

A city,
crumbling
under the overload
of concrete, ambition,
money,lies and shame.

I guess most ruins
have Sound and Light shows.

Figures.

Boundaries of the Mind

Man's best friend often thinks like Man. And learns like Man. Even about flags. Like the flag of India. The Tricolor. Orange-white-green. And sometimes you see it in the grass too.

See other photos by Kavi Arasu here. .... And marvel............

(Photo by Kavi Arasu)

Barbed wire
borders
separating
the same grass
of the same earth.

The faithful one
stands
dreaming
about
cooler climes
winter races
with Alsations,
a special man
to brush his
coat
and walk him
at the army grounds....

A shake of the ears,
he looks back
and
the tricolor grass
beckons.

The barbed wire fence
encloses
not him,,
but
those
destined to live
by the guns and orders.

He turns
happily,
bounds back,
and races through the grass...

In his country
He is free.